


things I can't say to you

by lilllac



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, also percy and reyna are siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29776524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilllac/pseuds/lilllac
Summary: Piper sees her dreams come true after winning a contest to take classes from her favorite writer. The first five minutes in Percy's presence already tells her that he will either be her best friend or worst enemy. Reyna ... Reyna is a little more complicated to read.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Piper McLean, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Percy Jackson & Piper McLean, Piper McLean/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	things I can't say to you

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [O que eu não te digo](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/768663) by Lilllac. 



> english isn't my first language. I apologize for all mistakes to be found, and hope it's still enjoyable

"She said you can go up," the doorman informed her, returning the phone to the hook.

Piper smiled and thanked him, resisting the urge to do a humiliating little sucess dance. She practically skipped from the entrance to the elevator, and didn't even have to check the message the press agent had sent, for she already remembered the number by heart. The elevator ride seemed to take much longer than the brief two and a half minutes. She went out into a well-lit corridor with potted plants on the side of each door. 

Before he could reach the door, however, it was opened, wide. Piper almost screamed.

The boy didn't seem to see her right away. He was much taller than she was, wearing dark green shorts and blue tank tops. The arm he had stretched out, with a hand on the door handle, had a strange tattoo on it. His black hair was rumpled and tousled in a way that Piper found undoubtedly attractive.

"Are you Piper?".

The way his impossibly intense gaze lingered on her face made Piper almost consider lying and running away. He was handsome, but also scary. The kind of boy who would make a great villain in a teen series, with a provocative smirk and sarcastic comments, and who would probably have more fans than the goody two shoes protagonist.

"Yes...?".

He frowned, getting even more intimidating, and his expression twitched a little. "Is that a question?".

"No. _I'm_ Piper" she felt a little stupid saying that "who are you?";

He opened his mouth to reply, but a female voice interrupted him: "Perce, what are you ... oh no, you're scaring the girl!".

A figure appeared beside him at the door, wearing baby blue pajama pants and a apron over a wide gray T-shirt. Her brown hair was tied in a tousled bun at the top of her head, and the glasses had slid down the middle of the nose.

"Heavens, you must be Piper. I am really sorry. Please come in".

But by this point, Piper had already taken root in the ground and was trying not to scream. She was _there_. The woman she most admired across the literary scene. The writer behind - almost - all of her favorite books. The woman who had made her believe that there was some space in the world for her and her imagination, her fanciful stories and never-ending chatter.

Sally Jackson.

The author of some of the greatest bestsellers of that generation, spokeswoman and self-proclaimed master of chocolate cookies.

Piper's mind was shouting. But her body, fortunately, managed to move one foot after the other and gp forward. However, it seemed that each step left her even more breathless. Sally looked at her with some concern.

"Are you OK, darling? You looks a little pale", and, turning to Percy: "what did you say to her?".

The boy shrugged. "Nothing! But I thought she could be one of those weird fans".

A part of Piper was offended. The other agreed with him.

Sally held out a hand: "It's nice to meet you".

"I ... Likewise" she prayed to all the gods asking for her palms to not be completely soaked with sweat.

If they were, Sally was courteous enough not to mention.

"Percy".

"Okay, _sorry_ " he rolled his eyes, stretching out a hand too "my name is Percy. I didn't mean to make you nervous. I heard you won a contest and stuff".

Piper shook his hand. She wanted to comment that it was not a _contest and stuff_ , but a massive competition in one of the biggest online magazines in the country with thousands of participants and that she had spent almost three months on caffeine and breaking her creative blocks by hammering to finish the tale that had ranked her in the first place.

But another thought occurred to her:

"I read an article about you," she said. "A few years ago. You won the skateboarding championship and sutff". Percy frowned at her. Before he could say anything, however, Piper added: "Congratulations on getting those braces out".

Sally pursed her lips, and it seemed to Piper that she was holding back laughter. Percy's ears got a little red.

"Come on, you can leave your sneakers on the side of the rug", Sally entered the apartment "are you hungry?".

"I...".

You better be", Percy leaned against the now closed door "Mom gets very upset when people reject her food".

"Percy".

"What? It's true", he laughed "and besides, the cookies _are_ really good".

"I appreciate the compliments, boy, but I was offering the pancakes. The cookies are for after lunch. It's nine in the morning Percy, you're not going to eat candy right now".

While they argued amicably, Piper tried to take a deep breath. She hadn't been thinking straight when she teased her favorite writer's son, and she could only be happy that he hadn't retaliated much - and that Sally had taken it as a joke (although Percy had, indeed, annoyed her a little bit). Now, she needed to come to terms with the fact that she was at Sally Jackson's apartment, with Sally Jackson, and about to receive lessons from Sally Jackson.

The apartment was simple, but cozy. Not nearly what one would expect from a multimillion dollar author, but exactly what Piper had expected of her. As far as she could remember, Sally had always introduced herself as a simple woman, evidencing this in her books, and in her interviews, when she occasionally let out a story she considered funny from the time she worked as an attendant in a candy store in the subway station. Piper, the young Piper who was a multi-billionaire and traveled in private jets at the age of eight, already thought she was incredible.

"I'm, actually".

"Excellent! Percy, get her a plate".

A few minutes later, she was sitting at the table with the two of them, enjoying the best pancake she had ever tasted. Sally spoke so naturally that for a few minutes Piper forgot that she was there as a student, not just a friend. Percy poured an exorbitant amount of blue syrup into his pancakes.

"You won the surfing championship and stuff," he said suddenly. Piper looked at him startled "I read the news, and for journalists, your name is like an open sugar jar next to an ant nest".

"It was last year", she agreed "kind of a last minute decision...".

The mother alarms in Sally's head probably went off.

"Last minute decision?".

"My dad had to go to Malibu on my birthday and I was, well, alone. Then I took the car and went to Santa Monica".

"And mr. McLean...?".

"He stayed in Malibu," Piper took a generous bite of her pancake, "and called me at night."

"To congratulate you?".

Piper remembered Tristan's exasperated scolding on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah. Kinda". 

Percy laughed, but Sally looked at her for a moment.

"The opposite happened in your story" she said "the character was too afraid to participate because of the trauma, but her father encouraged her".

The comment was simply thrown into the air, but Piper's heart skidded. Sally. Had. Read. Her. Story. _Sally had read her story!_

But she didn't even have time to think about it too much, as a muffled noise from the other side of the door caught everyone's attention, and suddenly it was opened.

If asked, Piper would say that she absolutely loved dogs. They were great animals. And she would love if Tristan would just let her adopt one already. 

If asked, Piper would say that she had never come closer to a heart attack than when she saw the two huge hunting dogs up close with their tongues out and their legs dangerously raised.

"Oops!" Percy exclaimed, jumping to hold the first, while a Sally caught the second's attention.

"My God, I had no idea that you had visitors!" A male voice sounded, both tired and exasperated "I'm so sorry, really".

When the fear of impending death gone, Piper was able to think clearly again, she focused on the boy who had just entered and was standing in front of the door ajar. The first thing she noticed was how pale he was, but then she thought that maybe part of the scare was the contrast with the clothes - completely black. T-shirt and light pants with a single purple stripe. His black hair was held back with a thin silver headband and he had small ear reamers.

"Good morning, Nico", Sally greeted, stroking the head of one of the dogs "where's Reyna?".

"Helping Mrs. Raymonds carry the purchases from the elevator to her apartment,” he said, hanging the leash guides from a hook on the wall.

Percy let out a restrained growl. "Honestly, I want to end her grandchildren" he commented "how can they let her do everything by herself? It's ridiculous".

Nico - apparently - nodded. He was a little sweaty and breathing heavily, so Piper concluded that he had been running with the dogs. And speaking of dogs, she finally looked at them both. They were similar, probably brothers, and they certainly weren't pure breed dogs. The one Percy was holding had golden hair and huge brown eyes, while the one being pampered by Sally was gray and had the same colored eyes. Now that they were standing still and had reduced the threatening bark to a threatening growl, Piper found them adorable.

"Don't worry about them. They are only a little suspicious of strangers".

"They're suspicious of everyone," Percy corrected, "they're really Reyna's."

Nico gave a small smile. He got up, heading towards the kitchen, and stopped on the way:

"I would offer a handshake, but I'm all sweaty and I smell like a dog," he said, "but my name is Nico. I'm Aunt Sally's nephew".

"Piper. I'm her new student".

"Ah!" his face lit up "I read your story. The part that the sister of the girl drowns? _Sinister_. But the ending was cute".

Piper didn't quite know what to say to that.

Nico waved and concluded his way to the kitchen, where he got himself a glass of water. At that very moment the dogs began to bark again and ran to the door with such force that neither Sally nor Percy could hold them.

"Easy, easy, it's just me" the comment came in a laughing tone.

Sally Jackson was a woman who cherished privacy. Piper knew very little about her personal life. Three children. A horrible marriage (the reason why the woman also engaged in free lectures to alert young people about domestic abuse and family violence), and a love for sweets and surfing. She had seen Percy a few times on the internet (and he was especially famous on social media, but Piper didn't follow him at all), but the two girls had always been a mystery.

So she was a little surprised when she finally saw one of them in person.

"Hi Mom. Percy" she greeted "Jason asked us to remember that Thalia's party will be at...".

"Reyna" Sally caught the attention of her daughter, who had been distracted taking off her shoes, still at the door. "Say hi to our guest".

Piper kind of wished Sally hadn't done that. Because she was kind of busy staring at the other girl. And Reyna kind of _totally_ noticed it.

She lifted her head, black strands that escaped the messy braid falling so perfectly over her face that Piper would have found it comical and worthy of laughter if it didn't match the rest of the image. The dark eyes looked at her from under impossibly huge lashes, and the thick eyebrows rose in surprise. She adjusted her posture, showing the sweaty shirt and shorts.

"Hi. You must be Piper. I read your story, it was very well written".

Piper answered something smart. Or almost. Percy tried and failed to contain a chuckle. Sally didn't seem to notice.

"What were you saying about Jason?".

"Oh, yeah", Reyna tucked her hair behind her ear "Thalia's party moved. It will be at Annabeth's apartment".

"What?" Percy complained, unlocking his cell phone on the table "Why didn't she tell me?".

"Because" Nico leaned on the counter "she is completely dozed off on top of a math book on the sofa in her house. She had three cans of energy drinks on the floor. Jason threatened to kill us if we woke her up".

"Percy?" Sally encouraged.

"She is obsessed because she thinks that the score in last week's exam plunged her coefficient" he sighed, extending his arms across the table and joining his hands together "I don't know what else to do. You know how she is, mom".

"Well" Sally stood up. "Me and Piper have a lession to catch. Then, maybe ice cream? That one she loves?".

Percy smiled, and immediately started typing on his cell phone. Sally stroked her son's hair when she passed him on the way to the office.Piper started to follow. Reyna, who was making her way back from the kitchen to the living room, accidentally bumped into her.

"My bad. Habe a good lession".

She passed her, sitting next to Percy at the table, and Piper hurriedly disappeared with Sally into the office.

"The basis of the story is great." Sally rested her chin in one hand thoughtfully. "It has drama and mystery, and if my theories about the relationships between the main trio are correct, a lot of tragedy too. It is good that you have not chosen the route of the love triangle. Nothing against it, but most of the time it delays more than it contributes to the story. The problem is the protagonist".

Piper blinked.

"Pardon?".

"There's a big difference between the _protagonist_ and the _main character"_ she tapped the graffiti notes on the notebook in which she was writing "look here" Sally turned the notebook to Piper. She had written the names of each character and, below, the main characteristics, just what the girl had explained them. "Jake is a nice guy, but he has no weight in the narrative. He's being moved by the plot, when in fact it should be the other way around. If he is just _going with the flow_ then he is as much a viewer as anyone who is reading. The protagonist needs to think for himself, make decisions, and that his actions influence what is happening, for better or worse. If not, he's just some guy who happened to be there to narrate" she slid the graffiti over to another name "Derek is your anti-hero. He is charismatic and his actions are questionable. At certain times, he will probably even be considered a villain. This is great for an antagonist, but if his decisions have more weight than Jake's, then he should be the protagonist instead".

"I ..." Piper hesitated "sorry. I don't get it. I mean, I understood the conflict between Jake and Derek's narratives. But antagonist and villain? Aren't they the same thing?".

Sally smiled. Piper thought she was going to laugh at her face, but she just wrote something down in the notebook next to it.

"No. But it is already eleven and you need to have lunch. Ww're goint to to a restaurant that Reyna loves and pick up Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend, for ice cream. What do you think? Wanna come along?".

Piper's heart pounded. Sally Jackson! Inviting her! For a meal! Heavens, if it weren't for her asshole son and the dogs, this would have been the best day of her life.

"Sure! I just gotta..."

"Just gotta call my dad first" Sally added for her, although that wasn't exactly what Piper was going to say "we don't want another chapter in Malibu's history, right?".

"Righ" Piper agreed "I just gotta call my dad first".

Sally Jackson had an minivan.

 _Wow_.

And her extremely rich teenagers who were popular on social media didn't seem to be bothered at all when they climbed into an minivan. Wow.

Percy even shouted: "Shotgun!".

Nico grunted:

"You rode shotgun last time!".

And Reyna shook her head, holding her cousin by the shoulder."Leave him alone," she said. "He's not gonna give it up".

Nico grunted, crossing his arms. Piper had to contain her laughter as she climbed into the middle seat of the middle seat (yes, just that). It was the best place (after Percy's, but she wouldn't dare argue with him from the passenger seat), to see Sally driving.

She was a fan, okay?

"Aunt, where are we going?" Nico asked from the back seat, where he was almost basically lying on top of his cousin, while Reyna absently fiddled with her cell phone.

From that angle, Reyna looked even more beautiful. Probably because Piper was almost twisting his neck to see her and a woman always finds what she cannot have more attractive. As a favorable view, for example. Reyna had taken a shower and changed clothes, and her dark brown hair was tied at the top of her head, less messy. She wore a green tank top that didn't look like hers (Percy's, maybe?) And black jeans folded to the middle of the shins.

"To that steakhouse that Reyna loves. We are not that far".

Piper's stomach dropped.

Oh. Sure.

Piper, at a steakhouse. Invited by her favorite author. Accompanied by her children and nephew. Even the girl whose face made her want to have combed her hair just a little more before leaving the house.

 _Sure_.

Piper. Piper, the vegetarian.

What could go wrong?

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> coments are appreciated


End file.
